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Top Israeli military officials on Tuesday confirmed that the embattled forces of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad had used chemical weapons against rebel populations. Equally concerning, said the Israelis, is the lack of an international response to this crime.

Speaking at the 6th annual Institute for National Security Studies conference, the head of Israel's military intelligence said that pictures coming out of Syria showing corpses with constricted pupils and foaming mouths is evidence that the victims were killed by sarin gas.

Gen. Itay Brun said he believed Assad's forces had used sarin and other chemical weapons at their disposal numerous times in recent weeks.

Brun said the Assad regime is in possession of more than 1,000 tons of chemical weapon agents, and the deafening silence of the international community now that these banned substances are being used is cause for great concern.

If the world will not speak up when Assad uses these weapons against his own population, will it do anything to stop terror groups who seize the chemical weapons in the wake of Assad's fall from using them against Israel?

That's an outcome Israel needs to be very worried about, Brun explained, noting that many of the rebel groups fighting for control of Syria and its arms do not make "rational calculations."